Sunday, 17 February 2013

Last week I was looking across at Dos d'Ane from Ilet Alcide (see here), this week I was hiking from there!

Dos d'Ane village, Le Port in the distance

Dos d'Ane (literally 'Donkey's back') is a farming village in the highlands above the town of La Possession, at about 900-1000m altitude. From a visitor's point of view it is most well-known for Cap Noir and the Roche Verre Bouteille (literally 'Bottle Glass Rock'). Our hike started with a short walk from the car-park to the Cap Noir viewpoint, from where you can see the northern part of Mafate.

the northern part of Mafate seen from Cap Noir,
in the middle is Piton Cabris (1441m)

At Cap Noir we came across the photographer Luc Perrot, - I've already shared several of his amazing photos on this blog. Here's one of the photographs he took from Cap Noir:

After that we quickly gained about 200m in altitude as we hiked up to Roche Verre Bouteille. Altough the rock is shaped like a bottle, it actually gets its name from the Reunion Creole term for "shard of glass".

Tuesday, 12 February 2013

This hike started at 2000m, a little below the main Maïdo viewpoint. Shortly after you start you come first of all to the paragliding take-off site for Maïdo, then to the start of the hiking path that heads down into the cirque of Mafate.

start of hiking path into Mafate from Maïdo - 'only' 750m downhill!

Mafate was not our destination today though, a place called Ilet Alcide was. From the path turn-off we were able to catch a few glimpses of Mafate far below through breaks in the clouds.

In recent years the Maïdo area has suffered from several forest fires at the end of the dry season, and sometimes the effects can still be seen on the vegetation.

previously burnt bush

mistletoe

We gradually headed downhill, the lie of the land meaning that we had to follow the path round to the left as there was a 1500m drop to the Rivière des Galets riverbed below us if we carried straight on!

fungi

dew-covered spider's web

We stopped for a short break at a place known as "Les Terrasses" where we had a view across the Rivière des Galets to the village of Dos d'Ane (which literally means ('Donkey's back').

Dos D'Ane, seen from across the Rivière des Galets

We also had a different view of Le Port.

Le Port

A little further on we finally reached Ilet Alcide, where we had lunch (there are two picnic tables). The lichen-covered wooden sign reads "Welcome to Ilet Alcide, inhabited from 1900-1944 by Clain Vincent Alcide".

wooden sign, Ilet Alcide

Today there are no reminders left of Mr Clain, who came here from Mare à Martin in Salazie to cultivate and distill geranium. Before him, in the 18th century, the îlet was inhabited by Mafouta, an escaped slave who gave his name to the cirque of Mafate.

Hydrangea, Ilet Alcide

small shrine, Ilet Alcide

strawberry guava ('goyavier') flowers, Ilet Alcide

After leaving Ilet Alcide and continuing downhill we eventually came to a sign indicating Sans Souci further down (Sans Souci is a popular starting point for the Canalisation des Orangers hike). We, however, also headed down but inland too, towards the cryptomeria forest.

Ilet Alcide/Sans Souci sign

The smell of Ginger lilies became stronger and stronger the further downhill we headed.

Hedychium gardnerianum / Ginger lily / Longose

wild orchid

The Maïdo (along with Plaine des Cafres) is a place where cattle roam more or less freely, and we finished our 11 km hike at 1300m altitude with them watching us!

Saturday, 9 February 2013

The blurb: American Kit Kincade believes women are little more than a life support system to an ovary. Shelly Green, pinstripe-underpanted, cultured, classical guitarist, thinks optimism is an eye disease and hates all men. The perfect pair? Yes, according to a 'Desperate and Dateless' reality TV competition. A computer has matched them - physically and emotionally - with huge financial rewards if they can survive their five-star honeymoon on the paradise island of Réunion. Kit and Shelly meet the day they are to be married...and it's hate at first sight. Love may be blind, but marriage is a real eye opener.

You have to suspend your sense of reality to read this chick lit book. Apart from the outlandish plot with more twists and turns than a corkscrew, the author seems to have transposed Mauritius (with its insistent beach hawkers, plethora of aquatic activities, and islets) to Reunion, presumably because the latter served her story better. Effectively there's a freak volcanic eruption (from Piton des Neiges, not Piton de la Fournaise!*) and a lot of anti-French revolutionary activity, neither of which would have been possible on Mauritius.

Most of the book takes place on Réunion, and it's a shame that one of the most racially mixed and harmonious places on earth is turned into a blacks vs whites battleground, complete with corrupt machine-gun toting policemen, just for the purpose of Ms Lette's novel. She also invents a downtrodden local indigenous population to suit her storyline. There are numerous other mistakes such as thunder and lightening during a cyclone, and the presence of snakes and mongooses to cite just a few examples. Possibly the best part of the book are all the one-liners, some funny, some corny.

About Me

Brit born expat, professional French to English translator (http://smart-translate.info), traveller (59 countries and counting!), scuba diver, hiker, reader, tea drinker. As of 2015 I have lived on Reunion Island for a total of about 20 years since 1990; also lived in Seoul, South Korea 2008-2011.